ManufacturerFinnish
Fiskars
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Fiskars began in 1649 when Dutch merchant Peter Thorwöste received a royal charter from Queen Christina of Sweden to establish a blast furnace and ironworks in the village of Fiskars, about 100 kilometres west of Helsinki. For nearly two centuries it operated as a metals concern, producing nails, wire, and agricultural implements, before the apothecary Johan Jacob Julin acquired the works in 1822 and diversified production. In 1832 he established Finland's first cutlery mill on the site, broadening output to include knives, forks, and scissors - setting the direction the company would follow for the next 150 years.
The modern chapter of Fiskars' design identity opened in 1967, when industrial designer Olof Bäckström developed the first ergonomically moulded plastic-handled scissors. The colour - now trademarked as 'Fiskars Orange' - came about by accident: leftover orange plastic from a juicer mould was used for a prototype, staff voted to keep it, and it became one of the most recognisable product colours in consumer goods history. The scissors entered the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Fiskars has since sold more than one billion pairs worldwide. Fiskars Orange was officially registered as a trademark in Finland in 2003 and in the United States in 2007.
Over the second half of the twentieth century, Fiskars expanded from scissors and knives into garden tools, camping axes, and kitchen utensils, building a reputation for ergonomic engineering and long product life. The company went public on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and began a series of acquisitions that would reposition it as a broader Scandinavian design group. In 2007, Fiskars acquired the Iittala Group, bringing Arabia, Rörstrand, and Iittala itself under one roof. Royal Copenhagen followed in 2013, and in 2015 Fiskars added WWRD - Waterford, Wedgwood, and Royal Doulton - completing a portfolio that spans glass, ceramics, cutlery, and tableware across multiple national design traditions. In 2020, Fiskars Group won the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year award, whose previous recipients include Ferrari, Apple, and Adidas.
At auction, Fiskars items that appear in the Nordic secondary market tend to be mid-century kitchen and utility pieces - scissors, knives, cookware, and garden tools - alongside collaborations such as Bertel Gardberg's 'Triennale' cutlery service produced for the brand. The village of Fiskars in Raseborg, Finland, still exists as an arts and crafts community built around the historic ironworks, attracting designers and craftspeople who maintain workshops in the old factory buildings. The brand continues to be headquartered in Helsinki and operates globally through its two strategic units: SBU Living (tableware and interiors) and SBU Functional (tools and outdoor equipment).